Those Fantastic Lives: and Other Strange Stories

by Bradley Sides

Prepare to be transported to the edge of the world in Bradley Sides' affecting and haunting debut collection of magical realism short stories, Those Fantastic Lives and Other Strange Stories. In Sides' tender, brilliantly-imagined collection, a young boy dreams of being a psychic like his grandmother, a desperate man turns to paper for a miracle, a swarm of fireflies attempts the impossible, scarecrows and ghosts collide, a mother and child navigate a forest plagued by light-craving monsters, a boy's talking dolls aid him in conquering a burning world, and a father and mother deal with the sudden emergence of wings on their son's back. Brimming with our deepest fears and desires, Sides' dazzling stories examine the complexities of masculinity, home, transformation, and loss. Bradley Sides is an exciting new voice in fiction, and Those Fantastic Lives, which glows with the light of hope and possibility amidst dark uncertainties, will ignite imaginations.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Magical Realism, Audiobook, Halloween

158 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2021

About the author

Bradley Sides is the author of two short story collections, Those Fantastic Lives and Crocodile Tears Didn't Cause the Flood. His writing appears in Chapter 16, Chicago Review of Books, Electric Literature, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, The Rumpus, and Southern Review of Books. His fiction has been featured on LeVar Burton Reads. He holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte, where he served as Fiction Editor of Qu. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama, with his wife. On most days, he can be found teaching writing at Calhoun Community College.

Reviews

[Lori]

I am thrilled to be working with Bradley to promote the heck out of this collection! It's got everything you love - ghosts, aliens, sasquatches, and other amazing oddities! Hit me up if you're interested in a review copy or if you'd like to interview Bradley. This is a collection won't want to miss!

[Bradley Sides · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this book, and I’m pretty proud of it.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bradley Sides and I worked together on Bookkaholic web magazine in 2014–15 and I’ve been following his career ever since. I was delighted to get early access to his debut short story collection, Those Fantastic Lives (out today from Blacklight Press), which was an ideal transition for me from September’s short story focus to October’s R.I.P. challenge for how it blends the genres of dystopia, horror, and magic realism with literary writing.

Many of the protagonists in these 17 stories are orphans or children who have lost one parent. Grief uproots them, leaves them questing; combine their loneliness with dashes of the supernatural and you have perfect situations for strange and wonderful things to happen. So in the title story we have Sam, who at eight longs to follow in his psychic grandmother’s footsteps. In the achingly beautiful “Dolls for the End of the World,” young Patrick’s empathy somehow makes the apocalypse more bearable. In “The Hunt,” 10-year-old Zoey is obsessed with finding a sasquatch, while “In the Hollow” Walt trusts wolf-like creatures to lead him to his dead mother.

“Commencement,” in a first-person plural voice, is the creepiest of the lot, documenting preparations for graduation at a special academy. To be named the class valedictorian is an enduring yet dubious honor… But there are flashes of humor in the book as well. For instance, the lighthearted werewolf story “A Complicated Correspondence” is told via a series of increasingly convoluted e-mails. These two and “Back in Crowville,” in which scarecrows are used to scare off ghosts, too, struck me as perfect Halloween reading. I’d particularly recommend the book to readers of Kelly Link and Lydia Millet.

Brad and I had a chat over e-mail about his inspiration, themes and publication process. See my blog for our Q&A.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to get to read an early copy. Loved this collection of stories! Very thought-provoking and moving. I’d love to incorporate some into the English literature classes I teach.

[Angela R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

I enjoyed this little gem of a book. As stated in the title, it’s full of “strange stories.” There are monsters, ghosts, a kid who lives on an ice cube and all kinds of other things, but the heart of these stories is turned to humanity and its often cruelness to outsiders. There is a story in this book about a little boy and his dolls, and it’s necessary reading. I hope to read more from this author in the coming years.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually try new authors if the book is short enough and sounds promising enough. Which this one did. And sure, it was indeed short. Quality wise it left a lot to be desired.
It isn’t an easy or a nice task to rip a book that’s obviously someone’s beloved baby, gestated for seven long years despite the entire collection being only 130 pages. And this isn’t technically a rip. This is more of an I didn’t care for this book sort of thing. Tried, but in the end just didn’t.
It’s composed and plotted competently enough to be readable, but there was something diaphanous and oddly pompous about the style of writing that just didn’t work for me. But the most pompous thing of all was including a book club guide to it. Now that took balls. Sure, many books do that, but they are usually properly sized books from mainstream authors and major publishers, not a tiny collection by an unknown. Guess no matter what readers might think of his work, the author has a very high opinion of it, indeed.
It’s a nice, if misplaced, display of beef in one’s own talent. Or maybe it’s just wildly aspirational.
And then there’s another thing and that’s more likely on publishers, but at any rate, someone had to have been responsible for providing such a crappily formatted ARC with the word not for sale screaming at readers from every page often midsentence, among other formatting snafus. Seriously? Who’s going to steal this book? Why would they? Who’s even heard of it? All it does is detract dramatically from the reading enjoyment such as there was to be found here.
I read tons of Netgalley ARCs from a variety of publishers and seldom do I find one like this. Most seems to grasp that providing a messed up copy makes for a messed up reading experience and might affect reviews and isn’t the entire idea behind this to generate early praise for a book?
Anyway, no praise here, sorry, not sorry. Don’t even know if an author as self assured as this one needs it. This was a quick yet disappointing read that tried. Nothing fantastic here, though. Just some mildly entertaining tales of misfits and oddballs. There’s a Sasquatch, though, so that gets some credit. Otherwise, either pass or wait for a properly formatted copy. Thanks Netgalley.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this little book. I'll post a full review later.

[Nikki "The Crazie Betty" V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

RTC

[Not Sarah Connor Writes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wonderful collection of short stories. Each one was magical, unique, and emotional. I've never read a collection of stories that are only based in magical realism but I really enjoyed it.

Read my thoughts on each story on my blog

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only listened to the short story Those Fantastic Lives from this collection through the LeVar BurtonReads podcast. The title story by Bradley Sides, is about an elderly psychic reader who truly has powers, doing one last reading for a grieving mother before she retires. The seance is interrupted by her grandson whom she is raising, and who is developing powers of his own. There is a sad twist at the end, but you can guess what will happen next, so there is hope.

[David Blaylock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am too much of a sceptic.

[Julian Lanza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't quite grasp this one

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

dope story from levar’s podcast

[Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars, not rounded
Listened via audiobook via LeVar Burton Reads

The story mid, but the little twist at the beginning was well done, so it gets a solid 3 stars.

[Davon Peoples · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good stories and some meh but overall good tho